Carrying capacity is a unit of measurement that is used in all sorts of manners. In the study of biology, it looks at the number of people, animals, and crops that a region can support without harming the environment, but it is also a term used to see how many people can fit inside areas like a vehicle or an elevator where volume and weight are a concern. What else do you know about it?
The maximum number of individuals that can fit into an area
The ability of an environment to accommodate a growing population
The greatest number of individuals that an area can sustain over the long term
The maximum number of species that can co-exist in an area
Is fixed
will decrease over time because resources are being depleted
Will increase over time because of technological advances
Can be expanded indefinitely
Cannot be predicted for certain
Advanced societies take up more space
a higher standard of living uses more resources
Differences between different cultures lead to conflicts
Some cultures have larger populations
Less advanced societies have higher birth rates
The use of fossil fuels increases
the average ecological footprint decreases
Immigration increases
Immigration increases
Standards of living decline
Logistic growth, crash, exponential growth
Crash, logistic growth, exponential growth
exponential growth, crash, logistic growth
Exponential growth, logistic growth, crash
Crash, exponential growth, logistic growth
5 million
50 million
5 billion
50 billion
5 trillion
Most people would not accept the low standard of living required
The population is likely to crash before carrying capacity is reached
Technological innovations will push the capacity back indefinitely
Population growth rates are declining
ecological footprints are shrinking
Potatoes are an unreliable food source
Carrying capacity won’t be reached because a disaster will reduce the population first
Near carrying capacity, small environmental changes can cause a population crash
Exponential growth is always followed by a population collapse
Overpopulation reduces carrying capacity
Were lower than modern calculations because humans use resources more efficiently today
Were lower than modern calculations because they underestimated the earth’s resources
Were higher than modern calculations because population growth was slower
Were higher than modern calculations because ecological footprints were smaller
carrying capacity was not studied in the 1700’s
Animals
Plants
Humans
All of the above
Thomas Jefferson
Thomas Malthus
Thomas Sawyer
Thomas Maslow
population size vs. resource use
Ecologic footprint vs. resource availability
Population size vs. time
Resource use vs. time
Population size vs. resource availability
Farmers
Conservatoinists
Apartment dwellers
Recyclers
Vegetarians
Increase the number of people the planet can sustain by stimulating plant growth
Decrease the number of people the planet can sustain by increasing water use
increase the number of people the planet can sustain by reducing the use of energy for heating
Decrease the number of people the planet can sustain by reducing land area due to sea level rise
it is impossible to predict how global warming will affect carrying capacity
Resources are limited
Standards of living are high
Resources are unlimited
Standards of living are low
Carrying capacity is exceeded
resources are limited
standards of living are high
Resources are unlimited
standards of living are low
Carrying capacity is exceeded
it begins to grow exponentially
It begins to grow logistically
It stops growing
It crashes
It begins to decline slowly
There are usually more young people than old people
Men and women have different life expectancies
Birth and death rates vary with development
changes in population growth rates are frequent
Fertility declines as age increases
Is far from carrying capacity
Is approaching carrying capacity rapidly
is at carrying capacity
has exceeded carrying capacity
is keeping a steady distance from carrying capacity because productivity increases have matched population growth
1%
10%
25%
40%
60%